A MANALAPAN CHEF CHANNELS THE VIBRANT FLAVORS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN AS HE SHAPES HIS MENU

BY ERIK SCHONING PHOTOS BY ALEX BARRETO

Manalapan may be across an ocean from Greece, but at Anemos Greek Cuisine, authentic Mediterranean flavor is always close at hand. Under the guidance of new head chef Aki Bulbuloglu, the restaurant is celebrating its 12th anniversary and looking forward to countless more.

Bulbuloglu was born and raised in Turkey, though his family is ethnically Greek; for an aspiring young chef, that meant exposure to two cultures and cuisines, an experience that still informs Bulbuloglu’s cooking today. After attending Cordon Bleu, a French culinary institute in Ottawa, he dove into a career that included stops at the Google campus in Austin and with Turkish Airlines, traveling and sampling food from all over the globe. Bulbuloglu got married and moved to New Jersey, where he was brought on board by Anemos’ owners, mother-and-daughter duo Bessy Arvanitis and Helen Maragos, to helm the ship. Looking back, he views each of these experiences as instrumental in making him the chef he is today.

“Greek is a cuisine I know very well, but I always try to mix in a few different cultures,” he said. “I’ve had the chance to travel a lot, and I learned many things from different countries. I like playing with different cuisines and combining them.”

An example of his cross-cultural playfulness at work is Bulbuloglu’s Branzino in Phyllo, a blending of Greek and Turkish techniques and ingredients. Onions are slowly caramelized for hours in a spice blend of anise and fennel, then Bulbuloglu doubles down on those licorice notes by deglazing the pan with ouzo and flambéing the onions. Then, he layers buttered phyllo before topping a branzino fillet with the caramelized onions and wraps it in the phyllo like a parcel before baking. It’s a complex, time-consuming dish; for Bulbuloglu, that’s what makes it special.

“It’s a process, but in the end you get a great result,” Bulbuloglu said. “If you take shortcuts, you are not going to get the same incredible food.”

Bulbuloglu, in true Mediterranean fashion, leans heavily into seafood on his menu. His Poseidon Skillet, another fan-favorite from his specials roster, involves a lengthy braise of lobster tail, scallops, and shrimp in a house tomato sauce. Bulbuloglu hits the dish with a dash of ouzo, an anise-forward aperitif that he said makes seafood sing. He pairs the braise with another staple, orzo, cooked risotto-style, thickened in its own starches to give the pasta a tooth some richness. (In fact, Bulbuloglu loves orzo so much he named his dog after it.) In a theatrical flourish, he finishes the dish cornucopia-style, stuffing the braise into a crisp fried lobster tail. The result: a piping hot, rich tomato braise of seafood over a bed of creamy pasta. Forks at the ready, please.

The menu at Anemos, as Greek tradition insists, is a balance between lengthy, painstaking preparations and unfussy, lightly seasoned, and quickly grilled dishes. It’s the difference between, say, moussaka and skewers of chicken souvlaki. No matter the dish, Bulbuloglu honors the hallowed tendencies of Greek cooking.

“Greek cuisine is rooted in simple ingredients and not too complicated techniques,” Bulbuloglu said. “The most important key is to use fresh products. Whatever you taste, you get the pure flavor.”

For Bulbuloglu, Anemos is an opportunity to push the boundaries of what Greek food can do. Of course, he still treasures the classics, and lamb chops, whole fish, and skewers have as much a place on his menu as any other self-respecting Greek restaurant, and he takes pride in delivering the highest-quality iterations of those staple dishes. But it’s in the margins where he gets to experiment, and often it’s been these deviations from the expected that send his dinner guests into a flavor frenzy.

Take, for example, Bulbuloglu’s riff on the internet-viral Dubai chocolate, trans forming it into a crepe. (He came up with the dish in January and, due to popular demand, has kept it on the specials menu every week since.) Inspired by the trend, Bulbuloglu decided to do things his own way, making every component of the dessert in-house, from the crispy kaday if (shredded phyllo strands) to the pistachio cream, all folded together into a crepe and topped with vanilla ice cream. The dish, a crowd pleaser, is a testament to Bulbuloglu’s interactive approach to menu building.

“We love getting creative in the kitchen,” Bulbuloglu said. “We experiment with different ideas and pairings, and we listen to the feedback from our customers. Depending on the response, we decide either to keep bringing the dish back or swap it for something new. Our goal is to offer different variations of authentic dishes that help our customers understand what Greek cuisine can be.”

Most importantly, at Anemos, Bulbuloglu has found the freedom to follow his instincts, a creative liberty not afforded in the corporate settings of his past. As the chef looks toward his second year at the restaurant, he sums up his experience succinctly: “I feel like I can express myself very well here.”

At Anemos, Chef Aki Bulbuloglu is finding his voice, plate by plate.

Anemos Greek Cuisine 333 US-9,
Manalapan Township 732.414.6590 / anemosgreekcuisine.com